Judge Refuses to Discharge Law School Student Debt

Judge Karen Caldwell of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee affirmed a bankruptcy court’s denial of Robert Bentley Marlow’s attempt to discharge $250,000 in student loan debt. Marlow graduated from the Samford University Cumberland School of Law in 2009 and has not held steady employment since finishing school, according to the opinion. He has worked sporadically as a landscaper, construction worker and collector of aluminum cans and scrap medal in addition to receiving financial assistance from family members. Judge Caldwell found that Marlow had not established that repaying his loans would represent an undue hardship. Rather than intensely looking for a job, Marlow spent the bulk of his time filing pro se lawsuits against the Tennessee bar examiners and other government entities, she noted. The National Law Journal also noted a similar case in Michigan to highlight that student loan debt typically can’t be discharged in bankruptcy like other form of debt.